Of Families, Step-Families, and Friends Like Family
by TexanRose
Summary: This is a one-shot I thought of about Mike, Ezra, Aria, and Malcolm twelve years into the future when Malcolm is in college in New York City. It's better than it sounds!


**A/N I'm not usually a big fan of the whole Maggie/Malcolm angle on PLL, but I thought of this and just had to share it. Malcolm is nineteen in this story. For those of you reading my other story, The Girl Next Door, I'm working on it, and I should have an update on Friday. I do not own PLL. Please Review!**

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"My family's coming in today," said Malcolm to his roommate. Josh was lying on the couch watching TV oblivious to the piles of dirty clothes, half-eaten plates of food, and dust on the furniture of their apartment. "I'm going to dinner with them tonight at seven. Do you want to come?"

"Sure," responded Josh, his eyes never leaving the TV screen. "I've never met your family."

"I think we're going to that Italian place on Madison and sixth," answered Malcolm, "But I'm not sure. I'll come back here after class to change and then we'll go over together, okay?"

"Okay," answered Josh. He finally looked up at his roommate and saw the nervousness on his face. "Chill dude, it's just your parents, right? And it's only dinner."

Malcolm sighed and nodded. "Sort of. It's just that Mike is going to be there too and I want everything to go well."

"That's your uncle, right?" asked Josh. "I know you like the guy, but just calm down."

Malcolm picked up his backpack and headed out the door. He looked back at where Josh was laying. "Do you think you can find a clean shirt for tonight?"

"Yeah, man," Josh called back. "I'll just borrow one yours if I can't find one of mine."

Malcolm rolled his eyes before heading out the door and greeting the New York skyline.

Malcolm walked back into his apartment at 6:15 and put his things down in the kitchen before heading to his room and changing his shirt. "Josh," he called. "You ready?"

"Going, man," Josh called back from the bathroom.

"Can you hurry up?" asked Malcolm. "I don't want to be late."

It was 6:30 by the time the pair left their apartment. Malcolm walked quickly, forcing his friend to keep up with him. They reached the subway station and got on a train heading north. Ten stops later, they exited the subway station before walking five blocks to the designated meeting place. Malcolm walked hurriedly, trying to make the lagging Josh catch up with him. Eventually, Malcolm was forced to slow down to his friend's pace so as not to lose him the crowd.

Josh kept ogling to the women who walked by whistling and catcalling. "Josh," exclaimed Malcolm as they neared the end of the fifth block. "I don't want to be late. Can we move it along a little faster." It was not a question.

Josh quickened his steps slightly, urged on not by his anxious friend but by the beautiful woman who had their back to them half a block away. She had long brown hair, wore a form-fitting black skirt, and sported heels at least two inches high.

"Who is that?" whistled Josh. "Do you think I can get her number?" he asked Malcolm.

Malcolm gave a dry laugh and answered, "Her? I think she's already taken."

"What makes you say that, man?"

"A hunch," responded Malcolm as he closed the distance between him and the woman.

"Hey there, pretty lady," began Josh as the woman turned around at the sound of their voices. "What are you doing all by yourself on a night like this?"

She gave him a good once-over looking up then down and then back up again. "Really?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.

Malcolm snickered and said to the woman. "Sorry about that." He gave her a warm hug.

"I'm assuming this is Josh," said the woman gesturing to him.

"Dude, is this your sister?" asked Josh. "Why didn't you tell me you had such a hot sister?"

Malcolm cleared his throat. "Actually Josh, this isn't my sister. This is my stepmom, Aria. Aria, this is Josh," he said, jerking his thumb at him.

Josh turned red. "Your stepmom?" he repeated. "Sorry about that, Mrs. Fitz." He shook her hand politely. He turned to Malcolm and muttered under his breath, "What did your dad have to do to land her?" His words carried to Aria's ears.

She ignored them and turned to Malcolm. "Your dad just went in to get us a table. Should we join him?" Malcolm nodded and they entered the brightly lit restaurant.

"There he is," said Malcolm pointing to his head to a booth in the corner. The small group followed him where Ezra got up and greeted his son with a warm hug.

"Ezra Fitz," he said turning to Josh.

"Josh Shepherd," he responded taking the older man's hand. The group settled themselves at the table. Aria and Ezra sat next to each other with Josh and Malcolm across the table.

They had just opened their menus when Josh whispered loudly to Malcolm, "Dude your Dad's not old at all. Mine's a grandpa compared to yours."

Ezra cleared his throat and Malcolm blushed for his friend's rudeness. He changed the subject. "Where's Mike? I thought he was supposed to come too," asked Malcolm.

"He's coming," said Aria looking up from her menu. "He's just running a little late. This new job has been keeping him busy."

"Does he like it here?" asked Malcolm as Josh began to chew on the complementary bread loudly.

"Who wouldn't love New York City?" laughed Aria.

"Ella and Byron were upset when he left Rosewood," added Ezra looking at Malcolm. "I get the feeling that they're going to be visit here a lot more often."

"That's great," said Malcolm beaming, "I've always liked Grandma and Grandpa Montgomery. I'd like for them to come visit."

"Speaking of Mike," said Aria, waving to him as he entered the door. "Here he is."

There were many excited hellos and hugs, and greetings ensued before everyone could sit down.

"Hey, Malcolm," said Mike. "How's it going?"

"Good," responded Malcolm, with a smile. "This is my roommate, Josh," he said, introducing him to his friend.

"Nice to meet you," said Josh cordially, shaking his hand. After greetings had been given, though, he leaned in to Mike and mumbled, "That's your uncle? He's what twenty-five?"

"Twenty-six," answered Mike. He looked from his menu to Josh. "I'm Aria's younger brother."

"Wait," said Josh, his faced scrunched with concentration. "If you're twenty-six, then you're…" he turned to Aria "thirty?" he guessed.

She shook her head. "I'm twenty-nine."

Josh gulped and looked over to Ezra. "Don't even try to guess," he warned, but there was a smile on his face.

Malcolm half-smiled and turned to Josh, "I keep trying to convince Aria to let me throw her a big thirtieth birthday party, but she's not buying it."

"Malcolm," admonished Aria. "It's not that I don't appreciate the gesture, it's just that I don't really want to remind myself how old I am."

"Don't believe for a second, Malcolm," said Mike. "She just wants to pretend she's twenty-nine for the next five years and get everyone to believe her."

"Hey," said Aria, looking at her brother, "No fair."

Ezra rolled his eyes. "No fair? Weren't you the one telling me the other night that Mike should get married before he's balding and has a beer-belly?"

"Aria," whined Mike. Josh and Malcolm laughed. "Not all of us meet our spouses when we're sixteen."

Ezra shrugged, "A wife might do you good, Mike."

Mike sighed. "So says the man that's been married to my sister for eight years. You two deserve each other." The group continued to talk and laugh until the waiter came to take their order.

After dinners had been eaten and stories had been shared, Ezra cleared his throat and reached for Aria's hand under the table. Everyone looked at him. "We came to New York to see you Malcolm, and you, Mike, and of course, Aria and I wanted to meet Josh," Ezra paused and Josh smiled happily to himself. "We wouldn't miss spending time with you guys for anything but there's another reason we came." He looked at Aria.

"It's just," Aria began, "We really wanted to tell you this news in person." She paused for a moment, drawing out the suspense. She squeezed Ezra's hand. "I'm going to have a baby."

The table was silent for a moment, shocked. "I'm going to be a brother?" asked Malcolm. Ezra nodded nervously. "That's great," Malcolm exclaimed. "I get to do all the cool older brother things. You know this means I'm going to visiting Rosewood a lot more often, right?" He continued on without waiting for an answer. "Congrats, Dad," he said, leaning over to slap Ezra on the shoulders. "You too, Aria," he said looking at her.

"Yeah, Congratulations, Sis," said Mike. "Good thing for you to have a kid now before you get crow's feet and gray hair."

"Really?" said Aria, giving her brother a hug.

"Congratulations to you, Aria," said Malcolm.

"Congratulations Mr. and Mrs. Fitz," said Josh smiling, with uncharacteristic restraint. He almost ruined the next moment by leaning in to Malcolm and saying, "You know you're going to be twenty years older than this kid, right?"

Malcolm ignored him and turned to his dad and Aria, "Do you know if it's going to be a girl or a boy? How far a long are you? Am I going to be able to be home when the baby is born?" he finished breathlessly.

Ezra chuckled, "Slow down, Malcolm." He turned to his wife. "Do you want to tell them or do you want me too?"

"I'll tell them," Aria answered. She turned toward Malcolm. "I'm about two months along and we don't know the sex of the baby." She glanced at Ezra "We're hoping for a little girl."

"A niece?" asked Mike. He wrinkled his nose. "I need another nephew like Malcolm. Someone to play video games with and watch football."

Ezra laughed, "We'll see what we can do, but we can't promise anything."

"Any names picked out?" asked Malcolm.

Aria shook her head. "Not yet."

The group talked for a while longer before leaving the restaurant and heading out into the cold night air. They walked a few blocks together down to the subway station when Aria and Ezra turned to Malcolm.

"It was good to see you, Malcolm," said Aria, giving her stepson a big hug.

"It was good to see you too, Aria," said Malcolm, squeezing her back.

They stepped back from each other and Aria turned her brother. Ezra turned to his son and also gave him a warm hug before saying, "You're mom wanted pass on her hellos."

"How is Mom doing in Paris?" asked Malcolm, looking up at Ezra. "I bet she loves it there with Paul and Sophie." He looked at Josh when he heard laughter coming from where he was talking with Aria and Mike and then turned back to his dad.

Ezra nodded. "She told me in her last email that things were going really well and she hopes you'll visit soon."

"I want to visit. Sophie must be big now at eight," he answered Ezra. Malcolm sighed. "I just want to visit you guys in Rosewood, too, especially with the baby coming."

"We'll figure it out. See you at breakfast tomorrow before we head out back to Rosewood?" Ezra asked hopefully.

"Of course," answered Malcolm. "Meet you at the diner on eighteenth before class?"

"Sure thing," answered Ezra.

Suddenly Mike's train came up on the platform and he jumped in, saying last minute good-byes and telling Josh and Malcolm to come over to his apartment whenever they wanted to hang out.

Josh and the Fitzs talked for a few more minutes with Josh dropping heavy hints to Malcolm that he wanted to go barhopping after they said good-bye to his parents. He also apologized to Aria, "Sorry for what happened earlier, Mrs. Fitz." Then, just as suddenly as Mike's came, a train appeared on the other side of the platform and Malcolm and Josh jumped on it, calling good-bye over their shoulders.

Ezra and Aria Fitz were left standing along at a subway platform in New York City, musing about Mike and Malcolm.

"You did good," said Aria to Ezra in reference to Malcolm.

"So did you," answered Ezra back to Aria, giving her a kiss on the forehead. He wrinkled his forehead. "What did Josh do earlier that he was apologizing to you?" Aria laughed.

"I'm not going to the bar with you," said an exasperated Malcolm as he walked through the door of his and Josh's apartment. "I already told you I have breakfast with my dad and Aria tomorrow morning and I have to finish reading for American lit tonight."

"Fine, man," said Josh, sighing and sitting on the couch. "I guess I'll stay in to. It's no fun going alone."

Malcolm shrugged and turned to him, "It's your decision." He turned to go to his room when Josh stopped him.

"Man?" asked Josh.

"Yes," answered Malcolm, turning back to face him.

"The people in this picture, who are they?" asked Josh, holding up the picture that had sat on their side table for months, the dust on the frame evidence of how long it had been untouched.

"Let's see," said Malcolm, sitting next to him on the sofa. "That was my seventeenth birthday party. I'm blowing out the candles on my cake. The woman next to me on my right in blue, that's my mom, Maggie. When I was ten she married my stepdad, Paul, a finance guy who works in Paris right now. He's in the back of the picture in the white shirt. Their daughter, my sister, Sophie, is next to them. She was six when the picture was taken. My dad is standing right behind me and of course, Aria is next to him in the purple. Grandpa Byron is in the green shirt," Malcolm continued.

"That's your Grandpa?" exclaimed Josh shaking. "He's not old enough to be your grandma."

Malcolm smirked. "Wait till you see Grandma Ella. She's in black. They're Aria and Mike's parents. The guy next to her in the t-shirt is Zach, her husband. I guess that would make him my step-step grandpa," thought Malcolm out loud.

"That's your step-grandmother's husband? He's young enough to be your dad," blurted Josh.

"Don't ever tell her that," continued Malcolm, "She gets very touchy about it. Let's see. Aunt Hanna is in yellow, Aunt Spencer is in the blue blazer, and Aunt Emily is in jeans. They're not really my aunts. They're Aria's best friends, but I call them my aunts anyways. Then, Caleb is the guy in black. He's Aunt Hanna's husband. Cool guy. He bought me my first computer. Then Toby is in plaid. He's Aunt Spencer's husband. The little girl in his arms is his and Aunt Spencer's daughter, Harper. Of course, you know Mike. He's standing next to Toby. The only person not in the picture is Uncle Wes. He's Dad's brother. He couldn't make it that day."

"That's your whole family?" asked Josh, slightly in awe.

"Grandmother Fitzgerald is missing," said Malcolm. "But we don't really get along."

"Must be nice to have a family like that, man," said Josh staring at the picture.

"It is," admitted Malcolm with a smile.

Later that night, after Malcolm had finished reading _To Kill a Mocking Bird_ for American lit, he opened up his journal and started to write. His mom said that he got the habit from his dad, but Malcolm knew better. He got it from Aria, who he had seen write in her journal daily for almost as long as he could remember.

_The great thing about family is that they never leave you. They're always there for you no matter what happens. Some people might argue with me and say that might dad wasn't there for the first seven years of my life. Others point to my Fitzgerald family and say that I should blame my grandmother and her meddling for tearing my family apart. I don't blame either of them. The point is that my family is together now and one member is about to be added to it. _

_The other great thing about family is that they don't need to be blood relations like some people think. Aria and Paul aren't blood related to me, but they are as much my family as Uncle Wes or Mom or Dad. They were the best step-parents a guy could ask for not because they felt the need to treat me as their own kid, but because they understood. They understand what I need and they're there for me. I can talk to Paul about almost anything, and Aria's the one I go to when I have girl problems. Grandpa Byron's great too. I know he didn't always approve of Aria and Dad getting married, but he was always cared for me. He's the only grandfather I know, and I think he's a pretty good one. _

_Sometimes I feel sorry for Josh who really doesn't have a family to call his own. He grew up with an aunt and never met his dad. His mom was AWOL most of the time. He's my family too now which means my family is now his, even if he does hit on my stepmom. I think he hides his insecurity about being alone with jokes and blurted statements and girls. He's always hitting on girls. He's twenty-one, two years older than I am, but I think in some ways I'm more prepared from the world than he is because people who have loved me have always been there for me. _

Malcolm had just finished his entry when he heard shuffling in the next room. "Malcolm," called Josh.

"Yeah," Malcolm yelled back.

"Your Aunt Emily. Does she have a boyfriend?" Josh asked.

"Dude," exclaimed Malcolm loudly. "She's gay."

"Never mind," responded Josh although Malcolm was almost sure he heard the phrase "that could be hot" muttered. "Good night, dude," called Josh.

"Good night, Josh," answered Malcolm before he turned off the lights.


End file.
